Learn the Truth About Expiration Dates

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To all the CYAGHG members who took the time to participate - thank you! It was helpful to have a few people to connect with on the actions. I hope you learned a few things, shared it with others, and maybe adjusted some behaviors of your own.

For me, the knowledge gained in this challenge has definitely been put to use. From learning how to properly dispose of bio-plastics to receiving the 'nudges' to make a couple life changes 1) no more beef and 2) getting an electric car. The latter is certainly more enjoyable but I'll adapt to the former. It hit me the other day that I can no longer get my wreck sammy from Potbelly. Oh well. The sacrifice is well worth it in my mind.

Concrete is a good example of a material that most of us encounter every day, but may its carbon footprint is not obvious. What other everyday materials might have a large carbon footprint? How can you find out more?

Reflection: Concrete is a good example of a material that most of us encounter every day, but may its carbon footprint is not obvious. What other everyday materials might have a large carbon footprint? How can you find out more?

What's more ubiquitous than concrete aside from combustion? Embodied CO2 I think is the term but there's no database I could easily find to see what the CO2 emissions of a kg of one material vs another. Intuitively, products that are highly refined and complex (like laptops) must be highly carbon intensive.

I enjoyed learning a bit about regenerative agriculture - lot of potential there to improve food quality and start to replenish the carbon in the soil that our current factory farming practices have largely robbed. There’s no current way for the consumer to procure products which adhere to these practices. I also see huge disruption in “big agg” who will not let their shareholders down so easily unless they are able to find a way to profit from this methodology of farming. Chatting with your farmers market and maybe your grocer is the limit of what I think I can do. Any other ideas?

Thanks for sharing, Bill! I wonder if organic farmers follow these principles. Does buying organic at the supermarket support regenerative agriculture? I try to buy local and/or organic when possible, but just because I buy something that was grown locally it doesn't necessarily mean it was grown sustainably. Interesting to consider how QR codes might impact the food distribution game; like we could go into the store and scan peach and know where and how it was produced. I'm looking forward to the farmers markets in my area reopening next month and chatting with some local growers on these topics. I feel like I'm coming out of this challenge with more questions than I came in with, and that's good. It's spurring a lot of thought.

Did the home energy audit from SnoPud - they recommend looking into a new water heater as the best way to improve my energy use. No budget for any more home improvement this year but will consider it next year. Learned they make heat-pump water heaters...will take a look keeping in mind what I now know about refrigerants.

They recommended I replace my water heater, too, which is sort of funny because I just replaced it last year, but not with the type they recommended (heat pump), which costs about twice as much as a traditional tank water heater and I didn't have that in the budget at the time. I do have an aging electric heat pump that heats the house that I'll likely need to replace in the next few years. It's lasted well beyond it's normal life expectancy, perhaps in part because I only use it in the cold months and don't need it for AC since it doesn't get that hot here.

Reflection - What is the most exciting solution you explored? Why is it exciting to you?

Since I've been in the wind industry now for 12 years or so - I take a bit of pride in that on-shore wind is such a big player in the Drawdown forecast in what the energy mix will be in the future if we are to decarbonize the economy. Didn't spent too much time reading into this as much as I did about hydrogen-boron fusion being researched by TAE. This is exciting y'all. If you believe them, they intend on having this technology commercially ready by 2025. Targeted install cost is $0.08/kwh. Install cost is around $4300/kw capacity. They plan on having a 350-400 MW plant size.

Many of us act as though we are not part of a larger living ecosystem in which all things are related and connected. I’m happy to be in a location which respects the environment but there are many places which do not. The lack of care or respect can be the result of many influences which our fellow earthlings have no control of. I’m thinking of those born in poverty or war - they of course do not worry about the same things I do - and rightfully so. Not sure where that concern goes in this other than addressing the drastic inequality in the world and reigning in this trend of nationalism / protectionism that we’re seeing.

Deep question but simple answer - I cope by increasing my knowledge, talking with others, and taking actions that mitigate the causes and effects of climate change. Every now and then I take breaks as it’s quite easy to get discouraged. Looking up at a star lit sky helps me keep perspective.

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